Fuel-feed system for automobiles and the like



May 15, 1923. 11,455,085

F. E. EDWARDS FUEL FEED SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE File d Nov.30. 1917 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 15, 1923 11,455fi85 F. E. EDWARDS FUELFEED SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 30. 1917 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented ay 15, 192 3.

ATET FlFllfi.

FRANCIS EDWIN EDWARDS, OF CRYSTAL LAKE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TOSTROIVIBERG MOTOR DEVICES COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATIONOF ILLINOIS.

FUEL-FEED SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILES AND THE LIKE.

Application filed November 30, 1917.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I. FRANCIS EnwiN E1)- wARDs, a citizen of the UnitedStates. residing at Crystal Lake. in the county of Mc- 5 Henry and Stateof Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inFuel-Feed Systems for Automobiles and the like, of which the followingis a full, clear concise, and exact description, reference be ing had tothe accompaying drawings, formin a part of this specification.

y invention relates to fuel feed systems for automobiles and the like.

In present automobile practice it is customary to supply the gasolinefrom a main tank to the carbureter float chamber in one of three ways,namely, by gravity feed, by pressure feed, by suction feed.

Gravity feed can not generally be secured because of the design of themodern auto mobile and the inability to find room for an elevated tank.

Pressure feed, as at present employed has the serious disadvantage ofthe loss of pressure when the tank is opened for filling and the (lifiiculty of keeping the tank properly under pressure in normal running;There is also greater danger of leakage and serious loss of gasoline bya broken connection. An 30 other serious difliculty is the condensationof moisture from air forced into the tank. This accumulates until itfreezes up the pipe line.

Suction feed has been widely adopted as it obviates most ofthe-difficulties of the pressure feed, but, as heretofore employed, ithas disadvantages of its own. When the suction for operating the systemis taken off of the manifold,-the consequence is that carburation'is, tosome extent. interfered with. The carbureter cannot be finely adjustedbecause of the varying conditions brought about by the suction feedsystem.v

Sometimes the sticking of the parts causes raw oil to be drawn into themanifold.

The most serious difficulty is the failure of manifold suction systemsto operate under conditions of wide open throttle. This is because atwide open throttle the suction in the manifold is so low as to beincapable of operating the fuel feed system. The same, and other,difficulties of even more serious nature are encountered if the systemis operated from the combustion space of the en- 55 gine itself.

Serial No. 204,484.

It is thc aim of my invention to provide a feed system having thegeneral capabilities of a suction feed system in that it can raise thefuel from a lower level to the carbureter without the disadvantagesattendant upon such systems heretofore employed.

According to my invention, I provide a separate plungerconnected to theoperating parts of the engine. This plunger moves in a relativelystationary cylinder,although the relation of these parts may bereversed. The cylinder is directly connected with a pumping chamber.This chamber contains a float that controls a valve. governing theapplication of the impulses of the piston to the liquid to move theliquid from the lower level to the higher level. The" piston andcylinder do not comprise a complete pump, as no valves are provided forthe cylinder and the pipe between the pump and the chamber conveys thepulsations of alternate compression and rarefaction of the air whichfills said pipe and cylinder. The float controls the valves so that theproper amount of fuel. is delivered to the carbureter as is required bythe demand of the engine. Thus, in theory. my invention presents a pumphaving an elastic plunger, the stroke of which is governed in accordancewith the demands of the carbureter by means of a float.

I find this construction to be highly advantageous as it is reliable,economical and inexpensive. I do not intend to be limited to the preciseconstructions which I disclose herein, as it is apparent that theembodiment of the invention may be widely varied.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic layout of the system showing the cylinder andpiston, and operating parts in section;

Figure 2 is an axial cross section of the valve chamber and t Figure 3is a similar view of a modification.

The carbureter 1 supplies the proper mix- .ture to the engine (notshown), fuel being supplied from the float chamber 2, which floatchamber is replenished as liquid fuel is used from the main tank 3. Themechanism for replenishing the immediate supply of fuel in the floatchamber 2, comprises the pulsating pump 4 and the pumping chamber 5.

The float chamber 2 employs a suitable float controlled valve shown indotted lines in Figure l for controlling the feed of fuel from thechamber 5.

The pulsating pump 4 comprises a cylinder 6, rigidly bolted by means ofa bracket 7 to a frame member 8, preferably a part of the engine casing.The top of the cylinder is closed off by a cylinder head 9 which isthreaded over the open end of the cylinder. Within the cylinder 6 areciprocable piston 10 is closely fitted. This piston is connected bymeans of a connecting rod 11. to an eccentric 12 on the shaft 13. Theshaft 13 is preferably one of the shafts of the engine. in this case thecam shaft of the engine for operating the valves. The eccentric 12 isconnected to this shaft by means of a key 14.

It is to be understood that the construction of the pump 4 may be widelyvarie'l. the particular feature being that this is. not a complete pump,that is. it does not comprise inlet and outlet valves. but comprisesonly a generator of oscillations in pressure of the air within thecylinder. These alternate compressions and rarefactions ot' the air inthe cylinder are transmitted by means of a pipe 15 to the interior ofthe pumping chamher 5. The cylinder 6 and the pipe 15 contain air and itwill be readily understool that when the piston 10 moves downward thepressure of the air in the cylinder and pipe 15. and in the top of thepumping chamber 5, falls below normal atmospheric pressure creating asuction stroke in the pumping chamber 5.

The pumping chamber 5 is connected by means of a pipe 16 with the mainsupply tank 3 on the inlet side of the pumping chamber. ()n the outletside oi" the chamber a pipe 17 connects the chamber with the floatchamber 2. It is to be understool that the float chamber 2 is providedwith the usual float controlled valve. as is well understood by thoseskilled in the art.

The pumping chamber 5. as shown in Figure 1, is provided with a mountingbracket 18 by means of which it is connected under the hexagon nut 19 ontop of the float chamher 2.

Thepumping chamber 5 comprises an outer cylindrical shell 20. the upperend of which is closed offby a cap 21. The elbow 22 communicates througha hole in the cap 21 with the interior of the pumping chamber and isconnected to the pipe 15. which leads to the oscillation pump. The cap21 is preferably secured tothe open end of the shell 20 by means ofscrew threads and a flange, as is indicated in the drawings.

The bottom of the shell 20 is closed off by a screw plug 23 which'has aninterior flange 24 with apertures therethrough and a screen 25 over thesame. The flange of the plug 23 extends upward against a partition 26which divides the interior of the casing 20 into two women compartments,namely. the main float compartment 27 and the inlet valve compartment2%. The inlet compartment 28 communicates by way of the opening 29 withthe union 30 which forms the end of the gasoline supply pipe 16 shown inFigure 1. The main float com 'iartment 27 is provided with an outletpassage 31 formed in a boss in the side of the wall 20. this boss beingsuitably machined to provide a valve port 32 for the outlet check valve33. A screw plug 34 closes the top of the cage for the valve 33. l ponthe outlet side of the valve 33 the port communicates with the dischargepipe 17, leading to the inlet of the float chamber 2.

The wall or partition 26 which divides the. casing 20 into twocompartments has a depressed central hub 37 into which there is set thevalve cage 33. this cage being held in place by the hollow screw plug 39which is threaded into the interior of the cage. The plug 39 forms avalve passage 40 and the upper end of the plug forms a seat; for theinlet check valve 41. The cage 38 has the ports 42 for permitting liquidfuel which enters past the valve 41 to pass into thev float chambercompartment 27. The upper end of the cage 38 is bored to receive the controlling stem 43 which stem is-governed by the float member 44 throughwhich this stem passes axially. The cap member 21. which closes thecasing 20, is provided with an axial guide 45 in which the upper end ofthe stem or rod 43is guided. A suitable bracket member 46 secured to thebottom of the cap member 21 provides pivotal support for the-weightedoperating levers 47 which connect the float 44 with the stem 43. end ofthese levers 47 play between the collars 43. thereby causing the stem 43to be thrust downward when the float 44 rises. The stem 43 is of such alength that when the float is in its uppermost position. the lower end01 the stem 43 engages the check valve 41 and presses it down upon itsseat. closing off the inlet port 40. The outlet check valve is operableat all times but inasmuch as the outlet communicates with the floatcontrolled valve in the float chamber 2. it is ap- The inner Theoperation of the system, thus far described. is as follows:

As soon as the engine is turned over. the shaft 13 is rotated. causingreciprocation of the piston 10 in the cylinder 6. The bodv of aircontained in the cylinder 6, the pipe 15 and in the top of the pumpingchamber 5 is alternately compressed and rarefied. The effect of thesealternate compressions and rarefactions of the air in the pumpingchamber 5 causes the inlet and outlet check valves 41-33, respectively,to close and open closed by a screw plug 63 whic mes es alternatel Thus,during the first few strokes, air would be drawn from the pipe 16 untilthe liquid were drawn up into the pumping chamber 5. This air would bedriven out through the discharge port 35 and would pass up through thefloat chamber 2.

The alternate compressions and rarefactions of the air in the top of thepumping chamber 5 alternately draw in liquid fuel to the inlet valve 41and force the same out at the outlet check valve 33. This actioncontinues until the float chamber 2 is closed ofl by the action of thefloat valve therein. Thereafter the compression impulses in the pumpingchamber 5 do not discharge any more gasoline from the pumping chamber 5and the suction impulses only are eflective. As the liquid is drawn intothe float compartment 27 by the suction impulses the level of the samerises until the float 44.- operates upon the stem 43 to press the checkvalve 41 down upon its seat, closing ofl' the further supply of liquidfuel. Thereafter, both compression and suction strokes are ineffectiveuntil the level of the fuel in the float chamber 2 drops sufliciently tooperate the float valve therein to permit more fuel to be pumped intothe float chamber 2.

It will be seen at once that a system that I have described is of theutmost simplicity and reliability; the power required to operate theimpulse pump 4 is very slight. While I have shown the pumping chamber 5as elevated above the float chamberQ, it is not essential that thispumping chamber be thus elevated.

In Figure 3 I have illustrated a modified form of pumping chamber 5'.This chamber comprises the cylindrical side walls 50, the top of whichis closed by a screw threaded cap 51, having a central hub 52 containinga valve port 53 and having valve seat 54 for the float controlled valve55-, which is mounted by means of the universal joint 56 on the float 57The lower end of the casing 50 is provided with an enlargement 58 whichforms a valve body for the check valve 59, this check valve. governingthe outlet port 60, which communicates by way of the passages 61 and 62,with the bot tom of'the pumping chamber. The recess in which the checkvalve 59 o erates is permits access to be had to said valve whennecessary. The lower wall of the casing 50 is provided with a hollowprojecting stud 65, surrounded by a cage or barrel 66, held in place bymeans of a screw plug 67. The cage 66 has an inlet nipple 68' which isadapted to be connected to the pipe line 16 leading to the main tank 3.The cage may be turned so that the inlet nipple 68 faces in any desireddirection. The interior of the cage 66 is provided with a screen 69surrounding the stud 65. The bore 70 of the stud communicates with theinlet nipple 68 through the radial openings 71. At its upper end thebore merges into a valve port 72 controlled by the inlet check valve 73,which is held in a suitable valve cage 74, this cage holding the checkvalve against displacement and also preventing the float 57 frominterfering with the operation of the valve 73.

The port 53 in the top of the pumping chamber 5 is adapted tocommunicate by way of the pipe 15 with the oscillation pump 4. Theoutlet port 60 is adapted to communicate with the carbureter floatchamber 2 by way of the pipe 17. The inlet nipple 68 is adapted tocommunicate with the supply tank 3 by way of the pipe 16. Theoscillations of pressure produced by the pump 4 are transmitted to thepumping chamber 5, and cause the valves 73 and 59 to operate to supplyliquid fuel to the float chamber 2. The pump 4: is so proportioned thatthe suction impulse will produce sufficient lifting effect to raise thefuel from the main tank to the pumping chamber 5 or 5.

When the float controlled valve in the float chamber 2 closes thedischarge valve 59 becomes inoperative and the liquid fuel that is drawninto the pumping chamber 5 raises the float 57 and causes the valve 55to close against its seat 54, thus shutting off the effect of theoscillations in pressure upon the pumpin chamber 5'. The universal joint56 provides play between the valve 55 and the float 57.

I do not intend to be limited to the precise details of constructionshown and described.

I claim:

1. In a fuel feed system, a pumping chamber, a float in said chamber,projections holding said float spaced from the bottom of said chamber,one of said projections forming a housing, and an inlet valve covered bysaidhousing.

'2. In a fuel feed system, a pumping chamber, a conduit for deliverinfluid impulses to said chamber, a tu ular boss formed in the wall ofsaid chamber to receive said conduit, a valve artly in said boss adaptedto close the end of said conduit, a float in said chamber supportingsaid valve, and stop means limiting downward movement of said float toprevent withdrawal of said valve from said boss.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscrlbe my name this 28th day ofNovember, A. D.

FRANCIS EDWIN envvanns,

